31.7.13

Wondering why I am making Teachers day cards in July...? Well in India we celebrate Teachers day in September and my daughter has so many favorite teachers that I think I will need to make at least a dozen special Thank You style Teachers Day cards .

Crafted a 3 D decoupaged fairy who swings, spins and literally soars into the sky in this kinetic card!

Kinetic card

In this photo you can see how the butterfly charm dangles when the fairy spins up.My fairy has 6 layers popped up on foam and boy was she time consuming to make!!

Spinning Card

Here is the aerial view of the spinning kinetic card

Spinning Card

Since its a self standing spinning card I embellished the other side too.Added more 3 D decoupaged fairies,a glittery Thank U,silver peacock feather die cuts and lots of butterflies and punchcraft flowers on the other side of the Teachers Day Card

Teachers Day Card

This design is one of my most popular card designs on this blog and here is the original spinning card. Some of my blog friends said they found my first spinning card tutorial a bit difficult so I thought I would tweak the tutorial a bit in this spinning card tutorial.

Materials Required

Card stock - An A 4 for the base card and 2 roughly 4 x 5.5 inches pieces for the central spinner.Thick Card stock is preferred - The base card which forms your stand for the spinner needs to be particularly strong as it is a stand for your card and has to support the weight of your wooden stick and spinner card.The spinner card also should not be thin as otherwise it will be floppy and unsightly.

Scissors

Glue

Double sided tape or glue dots - makes life easier while making the central spinner.

Wooden skewer or anything else you can think of which can take the weight of the central spinning part of your spinner card

Spinning Card Tutorial

I used Spellbinder Die cuts [measures 4 x 5.5 inches]as my central spinner.But you dont actually need any fancy tools to make a spinner card as shown in my first spinning card tutorial

I trimmed an A 4 card into 8 x 11 inches and folded it in half to make my base card.

Positioned the lower half of the Central spinner in the middleof the folded edge and marked around it leaving enough gap [1/4 inch on sides and 1/2 inch below]all around .This central rectangle is 1 3/4 inches from each edge [as shown by the scoreboard markings].

Cut out this marked area [folded it measures 4.5 x 3.25 inches]from both halves of your folded base card

Spinning Card Tutorial

Punch a border on your base card if you wish.Take a wooden skewer and trim off the excess so that it fits well within the width of your base card as shown in the picture above of the spinning card tutorial

Spinning Card Tutorial

To Make the central spinner : Take 2 die cut/hand cut shapes [approx 4 x 5.5 inches]and center the skewer on one die cut as shown.Apply double sided sticky tape or glue dots above and below and stick on the other die cut/hand cut piece and you have made your spinner!

Spinning Card Tutorial

Position your spinner inside your base card and see if it has space to swing freely [ you can do some trimming on the aperture made in your base card if your spinner is not spinning well]

Spinning Card Tutorial

Make the supports for your spinning mechanism: from thick card stock cut out two 2 x 1 inch strips and score at 3/4 inch , 1 and 1 1/4 inch .Fold this into an M as shown above.The gutters of the M support the skewer on either side of the central spinner.Stick the long legs of the M inside the folded top edge of base card.I stuck the M legs of both strips [on either side of spinner aperture] on the inside of the back half of the base card first, then placed the skewer in the gutter and glued on the other leg to the inside of the front half of the base card.

Spinning Card Tutorial

Your spinner card is actually done but it may have a tendency to fall especially if your spinner is heavy.
In that case make a stand for your spinner card like I did.Take 2 strips of card stock 2 x 6 inches and score at 1 3/4, 3 , and 4 1/4 inches.Punch borders if you wish and fold into an M as shown.Align it to line the lower corners of the front and back layers of your base card and you have made a sturdy stand for your spinning card

Spinning Card

Here is the back view of my spinning Teachers Day card

Teachers Day Card

And here is the front view with a fairy child soaring up into the sky in this Teachers Day card!!!

Teachers Day Card

Thank you for sitting through this long tutorial. Since its a technically tricky card design I wanted to give as many details as possible. Do tell me how you like it.Supplies : Fairies decoupage sheets ,Punches : Martha Stewart,Jef Butterfly,Jef flower and daisy,Dies : Spellbinders Rectangle,Spellbinders Peacock,Couture creation Oval, Cheery Lynn Butterflies Edited :This project was winner at Itsy Bitsy Sizzix tutorial challengeThis project was Top 3 at Whoopsy Daisy things with wings theme challenge

27.7.13

Dear friends it was so heartwarming to read the wonderful comments on my foam roses tutorial and I was even more touched that many of you commented how difficult it must have been to write a tutorial!!Yes taking pictures for tutorials is time consuming but then I always feel I owe it to my readers to explain how I made something!!

Sharing one more home decor project- a decoupaged plate .

Since making the earlier type of foam roses was so easy I tried making a different variation by giving a bulbous center to the handmade foam roses.

Foam roses tutorial

Tried Napkin decoupage for the first time using some gorgeous tissue papers I had won from Unstampabelles. Decoupaged a ceramic plate and added some of my handmade foam roses.

Glue gun- this is indispensable unless you want to spend hours trying to stick slippery foam!!

Scissors- to cut and shape your petals

Petal template-My foam roses are made from tear drop shaped petals the width of my fingers.

Foam flower tutorial

Die cut some foam flowers and cut them into tear drop petals as explained in my earlier foam roses tutorial

Foam rose tutorial

Or use your fingertip as a template [the upper curve is what you need!] to quickly cut up some tear drop petals!There is no need to cut the petals all uniform as after all its a rose you are making and petals do differ in size and shape!!

Foam rose tutorial

I used on an average 1+ 2+4+ 6= 13 petals to make a foam rose

Foam rose tutorial

To make the bulbous center:Take one petal and roll it from tip to lower part of rounded edge to form a cone as shown above and hot glue it with the pointed tip inside.

foam flower tutorial

Dont worry about glue smears on your inner most petal[as shown above] as its going to be hidden inside another petal!Apply a streak of glue lengthwise on a petal [as shown above] and below ]and wrap it around your innermost conical petal.

Handmade Rose tutorial

Glue on your 3rd petal in such a way that its rounded end will overlap the pointy tip of the 2nd petal as shown above.The foam rose bud actually stands!

Handmade roses tutorial

In the next layer I changed the position of the glue to the lower part of the petal as shown above and stuck 4 petals overlapping each other. Add 5- 6 more petals as the outermost layer and you have a gorgeous handmade foam rose.

Handmade roses tutorial

Make sepals for the roses if you wish as in my earlier foam rose tutorial.I also hand cut some green glitter paper leaves [as in the cala lily tutorial]and added them to my foam roses

Handmade roses

Made some of the roses stand out on branches made with wire and floral tape as I wanted the little bird to have a lovely 3 dimensional rosy scenery!For a bit of glamour ,added some pearl strings at the base of the foam roses.

Handmade roses tutorial

Even though it was my first time ,I loved the beautiful texture of the napkin decoupage on the plate.Now on the hunt for more crafts to use up my stash of foam roses!

24.7.13

As most of my friends correctly commented in my last post ,my current craft obsession is home decor projects! And since I get only snatches of crafty time nowadays flower making seemed the best outlet for creative cravings!!Sharing my experiments in making handmade foam roses.

Handmade foam roses

Making the foam roses was rather easy and in fact a bit addictive so I ended up making a whole bouquet of foam roses!And yes sharing the handmade foam flower tutorial.

Foam rose tutorial

Materials required

Foam sheets- thin ones are easier to shape and look better as roses

Glue gun- this is indispensable unless you want to spend hours trying to stick slippery foam!!

Scissors- to cut and shape your petals

Petal template-My foam roses are made from tear drop shaped petals the width of my fingers.

Foam rose petal template

You can use your finger tip as a template for the petals and no need to make the petals all uniform as after all its a rose you are making and petals do differ in size and shape!!

Foam rose tutorial

Since I have a die cutting machine [bigshot],I die cut some pointy tipped flowers[Sizzix sizzlit die set 3 flower layers],rounded off the pointed tips, cut them up into petals .I didnt like the jagged edges so used the scissors to round off sharp edges.Please dont despair if you dont have a die cutting machine as its even more easy to hand cut the petals of your foam flowers.

Foam rose tutorial

To make a rosebud as shown above ,I used 1+2+4 = 7 petals.

To make the center of the bud roll a petal from the pointed tip as shown and apply a bit of hot glue to secure in place.

Foam rose tutorial

Glue this central roll atop another petal as shown in the picture of the foam rose tutorial

Foam rose tutorial

Glue one more petal as shown .Apply the hot glue only in the lower part as shown in the pic of the handmade flower tutorial

Foam rose tutorial

For the outer layer of the bud I used just 4 petals--your number may vary depending on your petal size and how you glue the petals of your foam rose

Foam rose tutorial

The trick in gluing the outer petals is to just apply a dot of glue at the lower half of the petal and press just this lower part onto the central bud using your fingers as shown in the picture of the foam flower tutorial.

Foam rose tutorial

If you put too much glue on the petal it will seep out and burn your fingers when you squeeze so err on the safer side! This tutorial actually is in many ways similar to this clay rose tutorial shared earlier.Here is the completed handmade foam rose.

Foam rose tutorial

Keep adding more petals to this bud and you get a fuller foam rose flower.

Handmade foam flowers

Also sharing how I made the bouquet of roses.I initially handcut the sepals of the roses from green foam sheets but I somehow didnt enjoy that so later used a Sizzix star die and cut out some stars and reshaped them into sepals for my foam roses.

Foam flower tutorial

I inserted thin metal sticks into the foam roses and secured the sepals in place using the glue gun.Finally wrapped floral tape around the flower stems and twisted on some fabric leaves to make my bouquet of handmade foam flowers.

Handmade foam flowers

Wondering what are those huge cream flowers...? Well they are handmade flowers too ...from a peculiar material called sola wood! Will soon be sharing a tutorial on how to make sola wood flowers.

Sola wood flowers

I have seen foam roses on sale at many shops and online too and for those crafters who like to save a penny /craft for business ..making your own foam roses is super economical..I made the whole bouquet of roses using just a single A 4 sheet of pink foam[cost less than 10 rupees!!]

12.7.13

Dear friends it feels wonderful to be back to blogland! I was so thrilled that so many of you missed me enough to email ,comment ,message and even call me up to see if I was alright !Thank you so much ....I was so touched!!

Well we had bought a huge new house and all my time went into caring for it so I couldn't craft or blog!!Now things are settling down and hopefully I will get snatches of crafting time!

My blog friend Priya owns an awesome craft shop and she sent me some Washi tape to use in a recycling craft.This is the first time I tried washi tape and boy it was so quick and easy to use washi to recycle some plastic containers into what else but a DIY washi tape/ ribbon holder!

Recycling crafts

My ribbon/tape holder looks like a little lamp shade [My inspiration is the gorgeous wine glass lamp shade made by the super talented Daksha] .The hood comes off and you can place the ribbon/washi tape on the shaft [which is actually an used pen wrapped in washi tape] of thisDIY ribbon holder.

Recycling crafts

The picture below shows the washi tape on the shaft and the under surface of the hood with a central plastic rim which snugly fits the shaft of the DIY ribbon holder

Recycling crafts

The pic shows all the washi tape I own but even if you have a huge collection you can easily and quickly make any number of these ribbon holders as its a super simple inexpensive recycling craft.

Recycling crafts

DIY Ribbon/Washi Tape holder tutorial
Here are the items I used to make my Lampshade Ribbon/Tape holder

Gems container- I used one hemispherical half of it.Alternately use a jar lid or even a Styrofoam hemisphere

Goodnight mosquito repellent bottle- or any small glass/plastic bottle with a small neck

Used pen- wrap in washi tape

Washi tape--makes beautifying plastic super easy and quick as the pretty tape as its own strong adhesive!

Glue gun - optional-I used it to stick the pom pom lace and the plastic rim on the hood of the DIY washi tape holder

Recycling crafts

Make the Base of the Lampshade-I recycled a mosquito repellent bottle to form the base of the lampshade. I removed the pink stick and rinsed the bottle to get rid of all the residual insecticide.The plastic rim inside this bottle snugly fits a pen or pencil.You can use any small necked bottle as an alternative and if your bottle neck is large ,make it small enough to fit your pen with clay/sponge/paper/any other crazy thing you can think of!

Recycling crafts

Make the Shaft of the lampshade-Use an used pen or any rod like structure you wish to recycle and cover it with washi tape

Make the Dome of the lampshade-Cover the hemispherical dome of the plastic container with washi tape.Stick the inner plastic rim from another goodnight bottle on the center of the inside of the dome using a glue gun /double sided foam tape /other strong adhesive.Alternately fashion this central stopper using clay or mseal wrapped around your shaft so as to form a snugly fitting stopper for your DIY Ribbon holder.

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About Me

Hi! I am an ENT Surgeon and mom to a crafty little girl. This blog is to share crafty projects, tutorials and crafty tips .I love to interact with crafters and would love to visit your blog too if you have one.Do leave a comment whenever you can and if you enjoyed visiting Do follow this blog via email or becoming a blogger friend!